LUNED DOLWIN MORRIS INGLIMA, “Lynn”, the daughter of Richard and Luned Lewis Morris, was born April 30, 1926 in Seldovia, Alaska. Her parents were both Welsh and naturalized American citizens. They were proud of both their ancestry and their citizenship. Lynn’s brother, Dickie, was born in 1928 and soon after their cousin, Buddug, came from Wales to live with them.
Lynn went to school in Seldovia through the 11th grade, but because the school was not accredited at that time, she travelled to Seattle on a cannery tender and spent her senior year of school there. She said that was a real eye-opener! She had never seen such things as elevators, for instance, that “outsiders” took for granted. She graduated from Ballard High School and returned to Seldovia to help her folks in the store, and to work in the cannery.
In the fall she attended University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and the following year she met a fellow student, Richard Inglima. He was a dashing young man from Brooklyn, New York, who had fought in WWII on the aircraft carrier, Intrepid. It was the beginning of a beautiful love story. They were married in 1947.
The next few years were hectic, as they moved back and forth from Alaska to the “states” while Dick finished school and their family grew. In 1954, Lynn’s father was dying of cancer, so they moved back to Seldovia. Dick was soon in the store full time and with five little ones, Lynn was pretty busy at home. In her “spare time” she also worked in the store, keeping its old family name, “Morris & Morris”.
The family were practicing Catholics, and before a Catholic Church was built in Seldovia, Mass was held at the Inglima house. The children remember that “On Sundays we hurried to clean the house before the congregation arrived. Everyone would have to pitch in, so usually we hid things in and under beds and couches. One unforettable Sunday the Priest forgot the holy Eucharist and Mom had to make some quickly. They were about an inch thick and very dry. It was hard to keep a straight face during communion!”
The family house was always open to everyone in town. Lynn always cooked enough ood in case someone stopped by. On holidays they always had the bachelors, old-timers and whoever was down and out and needed a good home-cooked meal. At Christmas the kids would deliver Christmas presents to the entire town - their way of thanking people for their business and sopport throughout the year.
In 1966 the family left Seldovia. After the 1964 earthquake, the issue of urban renewal was a very divisive issue and it pitted many friends against each other. They moved to Homer and purchased another store, which became “Inglima’s”. In 1976, with the children grown, Dick and Lynn decided to sell the store and “retire”. That involved gardening, fishing, hunting travelling to Hawaii every winter, and, most of all, spending time with their Alaskan family!
Lynn died April 5, 1992 in Homer, Alaska, and is buried in the Seldovia City Cemetery in Plot #105, next to her husband.
The information in this biography, and the quoted text, comes from “In Those Days - Alaska Pioneers of the Lower Kenai Peninsula”, personal histories published by Pioneers of Alaska in Homer, Alaska in 1991.